Credit: LucasfilmThe shock return of one classic Star Wars character has caused upset amongst the fandom.
Despite recent criticism, Star Wars is still here. What started with George Lucas and a boy called Luke Skywalker in 1977 has erupted into a billion-dollar franchise spanning almost five decades.
Following his original trilogy, which consisted of Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: Episode V–The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars: Episode VI–Return of the Jedi (1983), Lucas returned to his galaxy far, far away with a whole new series of movies based on Darth Vader’s origins.
The prequel trilogy, which commenced with Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom Menace (1999), introduced audiences to young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), with the subsequent movies (Star Wars: Episode II–Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith) documenting his descent to the dark side.
Until recently, The Phantom Menace–which just celebrated its 25th anniversary with a return to the big screen–was the earliest Star Wars had gone back in the live-action timeline. Now, with Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte currently airing on Disney+, the status of the prequel trilogy as being the earliest live-action event has been eradicated.
And that is not the only change that Headland’s divisive series has made to the canon.
**Spoilers ahead for The Acolyte Episode 4, “Day”**
The first three episodes of The Acolyte saw Star Wars fans introduced to twin sisters Osha and Mae-Ho, both played by Amandla Stenberg. Set at the end of the High Republic era, approximately 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte follows Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) as he investigates crimes linked to the Jedi Order.
Despite The Acolyte being Disney+’s biggest debut of 2024, with 11.1 million views across its first five days, Headland’s The Acolyte has faced severe backlash and review bombing on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. Even when it was first announced, The Acolyte drew ire from certain toxic members of the fandom with claims of it being “woke.”
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Headland, a queer woman and the first woman to create a Star Wars series, was made a target, as was actor Amandla Stenberg who was cast in the leading role–Stenberg uses she/her and they/them pronouns. The early description of the show being “female-centric” also caused backlash in its initial development.
However, the latest episode, “Day,” directed by Alex Garcia Lopez and written by Kor Adana and Cameron Squires, has caused a situation regarding the sacred Star Wars canon and not for its diversity.
The events of the fourth episode, “Day,” follow on from the second episode, “Revenge / Justice,” which saw Osha (Stenberg) let her sister Mae (Stenberg) go after she killed Jedi Master Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman) at the temple on Olega. Here, Mae seeks out another Jedi to assassinate–the Wookiee Kelnacca (Joonas Suotamo).
While the events centered on Mae’s attempt on the Jedi’s life, the arrival of a character from the prequel trilogy stirred confusion and upset.
Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi was first introduced in live-action 25 years ago in The Phantom Menace and went on to appear in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Like most of the Jedi Order, he was killed in Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) Order 66 execution during the latter.
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At the start of the episode, Sol (Lee Jung-jae) is speaking with the other Jedi elders regarding the Mae situation, and, as confirmed by the credits, a young Ki-Adi-Mundi was present on this council.
The credits also revealed that the role of Ki-Adi-Mundi had been recast, with Derek Arnold playing the alien instead of Silas Carson, who portrayed him in all the Star Wars prequels.
What is strange about this is that in The Phantom Menace, the Cerean Jedi claims there has been no Sith for millennia, but The Acolyte features one in that very episode. And let’s remember that The Acolyte takes place around 100 years prior to the events of Lucas’ first prequel movie.
One other factor regarding Ki-Adi-Mundi’s appearance is that it changes Star Wars lore.
“Ki-Adi-Mundi’s age was never specified in the movies, but the ‘Star Wars: Episode I Insider’s Guide’ – a computer program released on CD-ROM by Lucasfilm back in 1999 – contained a character profile revealing he was 60 years old when he first met Anakin Skywalker,” Screen Rant points out. “This, therefore, established Ki-Adi-Mundi’s date of birth as 93 BBY.”
However, once Disney got hold of Lucasfilm in 2012, the House of Mouse essentially retconned everything from the Expanded Universe, renaming it Star Wars Legends. The non-canonical Legends are often used to draw inspiration from–such as the role of Grand Admiral Thrawn in Dave Filoni’s Star Wars–but can be ignored as it is not part of the official timeline of events.
The Acolyte will run for another four episodes, airing weekly on Disney+. The show also stars Carrie-Anne Moss as Jedi Master Indara, Charlie Barnett as Yord Fandar, Rebecca Henderson as Vernestra Rwoh, Dafne Keen as Jecki Lon, Jodie Turner-Smith as Mother Aniseya, Manny Jacinto as Qimir, and Margarita Levieva as Mother Koril.
Did you notice this surprise prequel trilogy cameo in The Acolyte? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!